Friday Family ProFile--Anna Leota Church

     

     Anna Leota Church, daughter of Edgar Wilson Church and Eliza Jane Richter, was born on October 13, 1889 at Keyser, Mineral County, West Virginia.  Anne is my paternal second cousin twice removed .  The Church branch is part of my VanGilder family tree.  Edgar's mother was Rebecca VanGilder, daughter of Jacob VanGilder, Jr. and Sarah R. McElroy.


Anna and brother, Charles
Xerox of the original photograph

    Recently a received a message regarding Anna (also known as Annie and Anne) from a fellow researcher through ancestry and I decided to feature her on my Family ProFile.

     Edgar made a living as a laborer and a coal miner while Anna was growing up.  The family lived in Lyon, Preston County and Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia.  By 1920, Edgar had moved to Akron, Summit County, Ohio. 


Xerox copy of the original photograph

     Sometime between 1910 and 1917, Anna married William T. Burgy.  I have not been able to locate a marriage license for their wedding.  William, son of Martin Luther Burgy and Ida M. Brinker, was born on August 1, 1887 at Newport, Washington County, Ohio.

     William lists 950 7th Avenue in Akron, Ohio as his residence on his 1917 World War I draft registration card.  The Burgy's were still living at 950 7th Avenue in Akron in 1920 and they have a five year old daughter named Ellen Jane.  I have learned that Ellen was adopted.  William was employed with Goodyear Rubber Company, where he worked through the 1940's.

     Listed on the 1930 Ohio census, the Burgy family lived at 824 East Market Street in Akron, Ohio.  Around 1935, the Burgy's divorced.  Anna married JohnW. Jackson.  I have not been able to find their marriage certificate.  She remained married to John until her death.

     William T. Burgy died in Akron, Ohio on March 23, 1947.  Anna died in Akron, Ohio on September 6, 1948.  She is buried in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Akron, Summit County, Ohio along with her parents and numerous siblings.

Sources:

1. 1900 West Virginia Census, Lyon, Preston County, Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 103.
 
2. 1910 West Virginia Census Grafton Ward 3, Taylor County,Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 0140.
   
3. 1920 Ohio Census Akron Ward 6, Summit County, Page: 27B; Enumeration District: 197.
 
4. 1930 Ohio Census Akron, Summit County, Page: 17A; Enumeration District: 25.
 
5. Burgy, William, Certificate of Death, Summit County, Ohio, Number 20714.
 
6. Jackson, Anna Leota Church, Certificate of Death, Summit County, Ohio, Number 58132.
 
7. Marsh, William Alfred, Church Family Group Sheets and xerox copies of Church family photographs.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

 PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Eliza Jane VanGilder Jenkins Death Record

     Eliza Jane VanGilder, daughter of Jacob VanGilder, Jr. and Sarah R. McElroy, was born in Monongalia County, (West) Virginia in March 10, 1826. She married Francis Jenkins, son of Joseph and Catherine Jenkins, on May 10, 1860 at Grafton, Taylor County, (West) Virginia. Eliza is my paternal second great grandaunt.

     This week I located her record of death on the West Virginia Archives and History website. Eliza Jane VanGilder Jenkins died on October 21, 1900.

     Eliza and Frank raised two children, Mary M. Jenkins and Samuel R. Jenkins. Mary married her cousin, Henry Moore Leps, Samuel was a bachelor. There were no offspring from Mary's marriage.

Lesson learned: Keep going back and checking sites with records....more are added daily.

Grafton Sentinel
Grafton, West Virginia
Friday, October 26, 1900
page 1

     Yes, keep going back to check on missing information.  Eliza Jane's obituary was an important find.  Her death was front page news in Grafton.  She was very involved in her community and was well regarded by her neighbors.  The obituary also list Bluemont Cemetery as her final resting place.  

Updated:  January 2026

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Wordless Wednesday--Painted Shrubs on State Street, Chicago, IL

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Tombstone Tuesday--Robert Bell Frederick, Jr. and Roxanne Anderson Frederick

     Robert Bell Frederick, Jr., son of Robert Bell Frederick and Mary Alice Bradley, was born on December 11, 1911 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and died in 1976.  He is my first cousin once removed.

     He married Roxanne (Roxie) Anderson. I do not know who her parents were. She was born January 9, 1918 and died on May 7, 2006.


First Cousins
Robert Bell Frederick, Jr. holding my mother,
Martha Jean Stark
Circa 1922

     I had the good fortune to speak by telephone with Roxie and we shared information on the Frederick family through letters. Until I met Roxie, I had no idea what the "B" stood for in the name Robert B. Frederick. She told me that the family was close to the Bell family in Columbiana County, Ohio in the late 1800's. In fact, I think it was Lucinda Orr Frederick, who was close to the Bell family. She was enumerated on the farm of Robert Bell back in 1860. Lucinda was the grandmother of Robert Bell Frederick, Jr. I believe that the friendship was through the Orr line and not the Frederick.

     She also gave me a good laugh in one of her letters when she referred to my maternal grandmother, Martha Marie Frederick Stark as "Dear Freddie". For years after reading that letter, Teek became Dear Freddie to my brothers and I. I had never heard anyone refer to Teek as Freddie; however, as I read through some of her old correspondence, Freddie was her nickname within the family and to some of her girlfriends at work.

     Robert and Roxanne are buried at Allegheny County Memorial Park, Allison Park, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Also in the same lot are Robert's parents and one of their sons, Robert Bell Frederick III, a bank teller, who was killed in Pittsburgh during a bank robbery in 1971.

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 PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Sign of the Times Then and Now--Mary L. Leech Taylor Moon

     Years back, while going through numerous pieces of ephemera from my maternal grandmother's estate, I happened up a letter written at the birth of my mother in December 1921.  Why my grandmother would have saved this letter from Mary L. Taylor is unknown. Although she signed it "Aunt Mary", I do not believe that she is a relation.  My mother told me that when she was young the term "Auntie" was reserved for friends of her mother and "Aunt" was a blood relation.  I don't believe this was the case with Mary, although Mary refers to herself as "Aunt". 

     Looking through the 1920 Pennsylvania census report, I found that she was a widow, living at the address in the letterhead with her daughter, Dorothy and her mother, Sophia Leech.  Mary ass employed as a stenographer and was undoubtedly a friend of my grandmother's through work.  My grandmother, Martha Frederick Stark, worked as a stenographer until she married in 1914.  

     I have numerous old photographs of  my Grandmother Stark aka Teek, as a young woman with a group of "gal pals".  Chances are that Mary Leech is in one of those pictures.

     My primary reason for sharing this letter is Mary's story on the second page.....the date is different, but times have not changed since 1921 for many single working mothers.

Transcription of the letter:

Dear Martha:-

Charles called up today and told me the good news and I am so happy for both of you--a dear little girl--think of it--I'm crazy to see you both.  Way down in my heart I wished a girl for you--I'm partial to them you know.  I just knew Charles would be like Tom--crazy over either sex.

I wish I could get over to see you while you are in the hospital but I'm afraid I can't  I'm just so rushed all the time I don't get the time to breath hardly.  I have to rush to work and rush home and get dinner then I can't leave very well for I have no one to leave Dorothy with.  I have loads to tell you when I see you.

A girl is coming to room with us the first of the year which will help some.  We are getting along very well now only I have so much to do that I don't get the proper rest and my nerves are a wreck.  I'm fatter than I ever was--old age I guess--but so nervous I'm ashamed of myself at times.

Tell your little daughter (I didn't get the card and don't know her name) that her new Aunt Mary has a little dress started for her but she came so quick I haven't it ready--it will come some day with all the more love.

Hoping you both get along fine--that I will see you soon with oodles of love from Dorothy and me.

I am
As ever
Mary

     I was able to do a census check for Mary; however since Pennsylvania seems very slow in posting marriage and death records on line, I was only able to check the census.  Ancestry has no family charts for this family.

     Mary L. Leech, born in Pennsylvania (probably in Pittsburgh) in 1885 was the daughter of Charles W. Leech and his wife Sophia.  Mary married Thomas Taylor about 1914 and they had one child, Dorothy Taylor about 1916.  Thomas was deceased by 1920.  

     The 1930 Pennsylvania census revealed that Mary remarried.  Her second husband, Harry Edward Moon, born on January 19, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland was a salesman.  The family was still living at 1501 Asbury Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

     I did check my grandmother's papers and records.  There was no listing of a Mary attending my the wedding of my grandparents or the funeral of Grandfather Stark's funeral in 1945. 

     My grandmother chose to preserve the letter and baby card from her friend Mary Taylor.  I wonder if they saw each other often or shared telephone conversations throughout their married years.  Did Teek attend Mary's second wedding--send a card and a gift?  Or was she a friend from work who she was close to and then fell out of touch as the years wore on. I will probably never know.

Sources:

1. 1900 Pennsylvania Census, Allegheny Ward 6, Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 59.
 
2. 1910 Pennsylvania Census, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Ward 8, Page: 10B; Enumeration District: 0380.
 
3. 1920 Pennsylvania Cenusus, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Ward 14, Page 6A, Enumeration District: 543.
 
4. 1930 Pennsylvania Census, Allegheny County, Page 19A, Enumeration District: 222.
 
5. Moon, Harry Edward, World War II Draft Registration Cards, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; State Headquarters: Pennsylvania; Microfilm Series: M1951; Microfilm Roll: 220.

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

 PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Friday Family Profile--Eleanor Poole Bashaw

     Eleanor Poole also Eleanor Pool, daughter of Sampson Frum Pool and Sarah Louise Harner, was born in October 1, 1886. She was the youngest in a family of eight children and grew up on the Frum farm north of Morgantown, West Virginia in the Morgan District.  Eleanor, also known as Nell and Nellie, is my paternal great grand aunt.

    Two months shy of her twenty sixth birthday, on August 23, 1912, Eleanor married Leon Hamilton Bashaw, at Morgantown, Monongalia County, Ohio.  She was the third wife in a series of four for Leon.  Leon, son of Lunsford H. Bashaw and Lucretia M. Pettit, was born on December 18, 1871 at Irondale, Jefferson County, Ohio.

     Leon worked a variety of jobs before he married Nell--house painter, carpenter are among them as he moved between Ohio and West Virginia.  From his first two marriages, he had four children--two with each wife.  It appears that the first marriage ended in the death of his wife and the second in divorce.

Children of Leon Hamilton Bashaw and Jennie F.Cunningham:

1. Lucretia Isabell Bashaw, born August 1898 in Ohio.
 
2. Russell Jay Bashaw, born October 12, 1899 in Ohio and died September 18, 1990 at Canton, Stark County, Ohio

Children of Leon Hamilton Bashaw and Theressa Lenore Shriver:

1. Male Bashaw, born 1903 and died February 3, 1902 at Minerva, Ohio.
 
2. Victor R. Bashaw, born June 21, 1904 in Ohio and died July 20, 1975 at East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio.
 
3. Ernest Russel Bashaw born 1906 in Ohio.

Eleanor Poole Bashaw
Olive Pettit Bashaw
Leon Poole Bashaw
circa 1923 at Poole Family Reunion

          

     Soon after her marriage to Leon, the couple moved to Oklahoma, where their first child, a daughter was born.  Olive Pettit Bashaw was born on June 2, 1914 at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Her middle name is the maiden name of her paternal great grandmother and her first name taken from her maternal aunt, Olive Pool.


Eleanor Pool Bashaw and baby daughter
Olive Pettit Bashaw


     The Bashaw's second child, a son, was born in Charleroi, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  Leon Poole Bashaw and was born on January 24, 1917.  Since the family was living on a farm in Columbiana County, Ohio at the time of Poole's birth, I wonder if he was born at his maternal aunt's (Sarah Ann Pool Pinyerd) Maternity Hospital in North Charleroi, Pennsylvania.

     The 1920 Ohio Census lists the family as living in Knox County, Columbiana County, Ohio and Leon is employed as a newspaper collector. 



Could Nell already be divorced and living in
Rices Landing, Pennsylvania?


     Sometime between 1920 and 1927, Nell and Leon divorced and she moved with her two children to Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.  Eleanor worked in Pittsburgh and her sister, Olive Pool Reeves, took care of them.  The 1930 Pennsylvania census shows young Olive and Poole Bashaw living on the North Side of Pittsburgh in a boarding house run by their Aunt Olive.

 

     Eleanor Poole Bashaw, age sixty-eight, died at Magee Hospital, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on February 6, 1954.  Nell was employed as a practical nurse.  She was living at 111 Brilliant Avenue in Aspinwall along with her daughter, Olive P. Bashaw and her sister, Olive Poole Reeves. 

    Eleanor was buried on  February 10, 1954 alongside her parents and sisters in Morgantown, West Virginia in Mount Union Cemetery.

   I was told by a family member that Olive Poole Reeves paid for the burial of her sister, Eleanor Poole Reeves aka Nell, and that Olive Bashaw paid her back for the expenses of the funeral.  

     

Updated, February, 2021

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

 PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser



Treasure Chest Thursday--Antique Toys

     I remember these tiny toys as a child.  They were part of the train display under our Christmas tree back in the 1950's.  The two little buildings are made of wood and the tiny doll is porcelain with a hand crochet or tatted dress.  Back in the 50's there were several additional dolls.  In particular, I can remember one with a little bonnet.  Over the years, only these three items remain.

     I do not know the date these were made.  There are no makers marks on the buildings or the doll.  My mother once told me that she could remember them when she was a child and that her father also used them as decorations under the Christmas tree.  Perhaps that was the reason they also found their way under my childhood tree. 

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. All comments are welcome; however, if they are inappropriate, they will not be published. 

 PLEASE post your e-mail in the comment section if you would like to network about a particular surname or topic. I will capture it for my use only and not include it when I publish your comment.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser